Venezuela Tops Panama for Latin America Region Title, Earns Berth in Little League Baseball World Series

WILLIAMSPORT,
Pa. (Aug. 4,
2002) – A team from Valencia, Venezuela, won
the Latin American Region tournament
today to earn a spot
in the 2002 Little League Baseball World Series.

In
Managua, Nicaragua, Los Leones (The Lions) Little League defeated Curundu
(Panama) Little League 3-2, becoming the ninth Venezuelan team to advance to the
World Series for 11-12-year-olds. However, it is the first Venezuelan team from
outside of Maracaibo to reach Williamsport.

Venezuela
will play against Guam, the Pacific Region champion, in its first game of the
56th Little League Baseball World Series on Aug. 17. at 11 a.m. Teams from
Venezuela have won the World Series twice, in 1994 and 2000.

The
Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in
Williamsport Aug. 16-25. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.
Other leagues to earn berths so far are from: Sendai, Japan (Asia Region); Curaçao,
Netherlands Antilles (Caribbean Region); Monterrey, Mexico (Mexico Region); and
Moscow, Russia (Europe Region).

ABC
will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on
Aug. 24, at 7:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball
World Series can be seen live on ABC at 6:30 p.m., on Aug. 25. Eleven World
Series games will be televised on ESPN and seven games will be televised on
ESPN2, bringing the total televised games to a record 20.

Little
League Baseball is the largest organized youth sports program in the world, with
nearly 3 million participants in all 50 states and 104 other countries. The
Little League Baseball World Series is the culmination of the world’s largest
elimination tournament, with more than 16,000 games played over a six-week
period on six continents.